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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. court — of law
  3. clip — a video
  4. clip — to cut
  5. court — for sport
  6. squash — the sport
  7. court — of a king
  8. file — a tool
  9. march — music
  10. race — the arms race
  11. file — a document
  12. fork — in a road
  13. race — a contest
  14. race — humankind
  15. clip — for paper
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. squash — to crush
  20. march — the month
  21. face — to point toward
  22. file — a line of people
  23. face — to confront
  24. face — part of the head

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com